Books Are My People: A Weekly Newsletter
out today, paperback releases and more!
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Books Are My People: A Podcast Companion Newsletter
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I'm Jennifer Caloyeras and I love books. And I love sharing books! I even love writing books. And making books! And teaching people how to write books!
For paying subscribers, Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang will be our February Read With Me selection.
Did you get a copy of the book for the holidays? We will read a quarter of the book each week, beginning February 5th. Each week in February, I will release a video / post about the book and participants are free to chime in. I can’t wait and I hope you join us.
As a gift to you in the new year, now through January 31st I’m offering 20% off full-year subscriptions!
Today is a HUGE day for book releases!
Out today: (I’ve starred the ones I’ve read.)
Holiday Country by Inci Atrek
Ada, who lives in California, adores spending every summer in a Turkish seaside town with her mother and grandmother at the family villa. When Levent, a mysterious man from her mother's past, shows up in their town, Ada can't help but imagine a different future for her mother--one that promises a return to home, to love, to happiness. But while playing matchmaker, things get complicated.
key words: coming of age, Turkey, identity, family, love triangle
You Only Call When You’re In Trouble by Stephen McCauley
I can’t remember who recently posted about this author; I think it may have been author Amy Poeppel on Instagram. But I’m excited for this one!
After a lifetime of taking care of his impossible but irresistible sister and his cherished niece, Tom is ready to put himself first. But then his niece calls. She’s embroiled in a Title IX investigation at the college where she teaches that threatens her career and relationship. And after decades of lying, his sister wants him to help her tell Cecily the real identity of her father.
key words: family dysfunction, family secrets, relationships
*You Dreamed Of Empires by Alvaro Enrigue
Also by Enrigue: Sudden Death
By now you know how much I love weird books and Enrigue never disappoints me. This is a a colonial revenge story about conquistador Hernan Cortes and his meeting with the emperor Moctezuma in 1519 in what is now Mexico City. What starts as a conquest moves towards a revolution in this strange fever dream of a novel.
key words: Mexico, historical fiction, reimagined history, Cortes
When Carolina’s richest woman dies, her son wants nothing to do with his mother’s money or house and instead, relocates to Colorado. Ten years later, his uncle's death pulls Cam and Jules back into the family fold and has him questioning his late mother’s history.
key words: family secrets, adoption, inheritance
Sugar, Baby by Celine Saintclare
Sugar, Baby follows Agnes, a mixed-race 21-year-old whose life seems to be heading nowhere. Still living at home, she works as a cleaner and spends all her money in clubs on the weekends searching for distractions from her mundane life. That is until she meets Emily, daughter of one of her cleaning clients, who lives in London and works as a model . . . and a sugar baby, dating rich older men for money and entices Agnes to follow in her stead.
key words: sex work, London, self-discovery
Lacey Crane receives a message that her former best friend is waiting for her in the lobby of a Los Angeles hotel. They met four decades earlier at summer camp and now lead very Hollywood lives. This novel takes place over the course of one evening where each woman tells their version of the betrayal that caused the rift in their friendship. This novel has been described as A Gentleman in Moscow meets My Brilliant Friend.
key words: friendship, betrayal, Los Angeles, 1990’s, Hollywood
The Fetishist by Katherine Min
Twenty-three-year-old Kyoka stands poised with a knife to kill Daniel, the man who broke her mother’s heart, leading to her death. But nothing in her revenge plot goes as planned.
key words: revenge, musicians, dark humor, mother-daughter relationships, race,
Listen to me recommend this book in more detail on Episode 116 of my podcast Books Are My People.
The Waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell
On an island in the Great Massasauga Swamp, herbalist and eccentric Hermine Zook has healed the local women of their ailments for generations. As stubborn as her tonics are powerful, She inspires reverence and fear in the people of Whiteheart, and even in her own three estranged daughters. Her youngest, eleven-year-old “Donkey” spends her days searching for truths in the lush landscape and in her math books, waiting for her wayward mother and longing for a father, unaware that family secrets, passionate love, and violent men will flood through the swamp and upend her idyllic childhood.
key words: divided community, masculinity, nature, brutality, sisters, secrets
Don’t Want You Like A Best Friend by Emma R. Alban
For all you Bridgerton fans, I thought this one looked fun. It's 1857, and anxious debutante Beth has just one season to snag a wealthy husband, or she and her mother will be out on the street. But playing the blushing ingenue makes Beth's skin crawl and she'd rather be anywhere but here. Gwen, on the other hand, is on her fourth season and counting, with absolutely no intention of finding a husband, possibly ever. She figures she has plenty of security as the only daughter of a rakish earl, from whom she's gotten all her flair, fun, and less-than-proper party games. But then they meet one another.
key words: queer Victorian romance, debutantes, courtship, friendship
Inverno is the story of Caroline, waiting in Central Park in a snowstorm for her phone to ring, yards from where, thirty years ago, Alastair, as a boy, hid in the trees. Will he call? Won't he? The story moves the way the mind does: years flash by in an instant--now we are in the perilous world of fairy tale, now stranded anew in childhood, with its sorrows and harsh words. Ever-present are the complicated negotiations of the heart.
key words: unique form, pondering life, little moments
Everyone But Myself by Julie Chavez
For Julie, an elementary school librarian and mother of two boys, there was no time for debilitating anxiety. Yet the terrifying aftershocks of her first panic attack left her grappling with questions about the causes of her mental health crisis and where it would lead next.
key words: relationships, family, anxiety, books, friendship
The Night Island by Jayne Ann Krentz
The disappearance of a mysterious informant leads two to an island of deadly deception. After experiencing amplified innate psychic abilities, they suspect they were test subjects years earlier. Hoping to find others like them, their journey lands them on an island where a killer is stalking them.
key words: Pacific Northwest, trilogy, suspense
Paperback Releases:
*The Things We Do To Our Friends by Heather Darwent
In Scotland, Claire, a foreign student tries hard to fit in. She has secrets to hide. When she finally finds a new group of friends, she dives in head first, forgetting that she’s not the only one with secrets.
key words: Scotland, dark academia, secrets
Listen to me recommend this book on Books Are My People, episode #93.
*The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
Five years ago, Geeta lost her no-good husband. As in, she actually lost him--he walked out on her and she has no idea where he is. But in her remote village in India, rumor has it that Geeta killed him. And it's a rumor that just won't die. Soon, other disgruntled wives begin blackmailing her to make their own husbands “disappear”. This book is so funny and full of heart and it would make a great book club pick.
Listen to me interview Parini Schrof on episode #94 of Books Are My People
*Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica
Jake Hayes is missing. This much is certain. Lily Scott, Nina's friend and coworker, thinks she may have been the last to see Jake before he went missing. After Lily confesses everything to her husband, Christian, the two decide that nobody can find out what happened leading up to Jake's disappearance, especially not Nina. But Nina is out there looking for her husband, and she won't stop until the truth is discovered.
*Your Driver Is Waiting by Priya Guns
Damani, a ride share driver in the Bay Area, is struggling in a city where many are struggling. She is awakened when she gives a ride to Jolene, an ally and a potential love interest.
Listen to me interview Priya Guns on episode #97 of Books Are My People.
*The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz
Alex is accepted to write a novel at her favorite horror writer’s residency, but things take a turn when people begin dying.
Like what you read? You can buy me a coffee!
It’s still holiday time in Venice, Ca. We tried a new restaurant with friends called Si! Mon. It was delicious Panamanian cuisine. And also super loud and dark, which makes me feel old! But the food was well worth it!
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